Commission approves US Highway 78 designation through Northeast Arkansas

[Road Hog]

I have an idea — instead let's extend US 266 east out of Oklahoma. Run it along existing AR 22 from Fort Smith to Dardanelle, hop it across the Arkansas River, have it follow AR 25 and 14 from Conway to Newport, and then route it the proposed US 78 route.

[Great Lakes Roads]

This is a very dumb routing (and extension of US 78) into Arkansas... 

[The Ghostbuster]

How much do any of you want to bet that this proposal never gets implemented? If a US Highway were to be designated along this corridor (very unlikely), it would very likely get a different designation, like US 261 or US 267.

[Rothman]

How much do any of you want to bet that this proposal never gets implemented? If a US Highway were to be designated along this corridor (very unlikely), it would very likely get a different designation, like US 261 or US 267.

In recent times, AASHTO and FHWA have cared very little about Roadgeeks' interpretations of numbering rules.

[Road Hog]

Three US routes terminate from the east at Memphis: US 51, US 72 and US 78. There just isn't any logical extension of any of them across the river, but logical extensions didn't stop ARDOT with US 63. The creation of I-555 saved them.

I looked and there aren't any good options coming down from up north either. In fact, I was surprised (and a little refreshed) at how there were so few E-W US highways in Southern Illinois.

[The Ghostbuster]

US 51 terminates in La Place, LA (and historically New Orleans), not Memphis. US 72 and US 78 are the only US Highways that terminate in Memphis.

[froggie]

This is what happens when you have politicians running the transportation department...instead of, oh I dunno, a professional who's at least half sane...

[US 89]

Arkansas wanted a US highway number for a 75-mile corridor. So they stole a US number from another state, 70 miles out of direction to do it...

[Henry]

Well, this is weird, I am sure most of us were just waiting for US 78 to be truncated to I-22 northwest of Birmingham.   

I know I was.

As for this extension, I believe that it's most likely the prank of some dumbass in AR who saw the stub end across the river in Memphis and decided to play around with it for a bit.

[freebrickproductions]

Arkansas wanted a US highway number for a 75-mile corridor. So they stole a US number from another state, 70 miles out of direction to do it...

Well, I guess they recognized that the AASTHO probably wouldn't want to allow a less-than-100-mile intrastate US Route designation...

[NE2]

512?

[bwana39]

I know, everyone gets upriled when I discuss Arkansas Highways and the Arkansas Highway Commission. The current Chairman of the Highway Commission is Alec Farmer from Jonesboro. While the number 78 may not keep, there will almost surely be a re-numbering of this stretch of road. A X63 or X67 would seem to be a better fit and would require fewer or no co-routed miles. US-72 would also be a feasible number as opposed to 78. They probably selected 78 because it is longer and arguably more prestigious in it current form and there is already an X78 in Arkansas.

As far as road go, the Highway Commission makes all the decisions for ArDOT.  The Chairman is probably among the three most powerful positions in Arkansas Government. It might be as powerful as the governor and the speaker of the house. The only reason the Governor would be more powerful is that she appoints the members of the Commission and nominates its Chairman.

[MikieTimT]

And Lorie Tudor is President of the Southern Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials Board of Directors, so there'll be at least that support in AASHTO, especially given that a US designation for the route would make for better marketing in the area for manufacturing and warehousing/logistics companies as well as get more federal funds on an ongoing basis for maintenance/upgrades.

I see the reasoning to request it.  I can't really see the justification for continuing up I-55 to Blytheville and turning AR-18 into a US-highway other than for a little extra marketing in the Blytheville area on the southwest outskirts or Jonesboro's eastside for transportation/logistics/manufacturing.  They probably want to push more growth especially on Jonesboro's eastside along the new bypass they are constructing from I-555 to US-49.  The perks of being the Chairman of ARDOT being from Jonesboro.  It is the fastest growing area in Arkansas right now, though, if I'm playing Devil's Advocate.

Makes for an ugly route on a map that no one would follow in its entirety, however.

[US 89]

If you really want a US number on that corridor, a better idea might be to send it north from Blytheville and over the I-155 bridge to Dyersburg, then southeast along TN 104 to US 45W at Trenton, much of which is already a four lane corridor. If you're okay breaking the even = east/west convention (yes I know this isn't technically a rule for 3dus routes, but most follow it anyway), then x67, x49, x63, x61, x51, or x45 designations would be available. If you want an even number for it, it junctions US 412, so... 612?

This of course requires some cooperation on Tennessee and Missouri's parts, but at least it results in a corridor that people might actually follow.

[triplemultiplex]

I find extending US 78 like this to be particularly irksome since in my opinion, that route should be truncated to at least Birmingham.  I-22 makes it redundant west of there, so it should go bye-bye.

[paulthemapguy]

I always thought the I-555 corridor could have been an extension of US78.  Dragging it north-northeast and then westward by way of a 120-degree turn is completely asinine, though.

[bugo]

Here are a couple of URLs that have information on this exciting new development in Arkansas' dynamic US highway system:

AHTD

Arkansas Democrat Gazette

A couple of maps:





Here is the resolution from Craighead County requesting ArDOT to extend US 78 along this corridor. I edited the document so it would all fit on one image:



Video from the October 25, 2023 Arkansas State Highway Commission Meeting (starts at 10:17ish). Note that it mentions I-42 and the US 412 reroute at Hoxie/Walnut Ridge as well:

As for the US 78 extension, I approve of a single number for AR 226 and AR 18, but the dogleg along I-55 is ridiculous. Too bad AASHTO doesn't allow single state US highways anymore, because this would be perfect for it. As far as extending existing US highways, there really aren't any good options. AASHTO's own policies are at fault for silly convoluted routings, much like the old US 63 when it still went through West Memphis. Perhaps a better option is to get Kentucky and Tennessee on board, and commission a brand new US highway that follows AR 226 and AR 18, but turns north on I-55 at Blytheville, then follow I-155 across that little brook that divides the country, then north on US 51/Future I-69 and east on KY 80 all the way to west of Glasgow, where it would follow the Cumberland Parkway east to Somerset, then back to KY 80 east to London, then the Hal Rogers Parkway east to Watergap, where it would end at US 23. This is still inelegant, but it's better than Dogleg 78.

[bugo]

Was this one of the AASHTO approvals this year?  Maybe I ought to start paying attention to their minutes if they are actually approving US Route extensions again.

This is an excerpt from the resolution Craighead County sent to ArDOT:

[abqtraveler]

But it's more of a "US 400" type of thing which adds nothing to the system.

But we have to remember the origins of US-400. US-400 was originally designated about 25 years ago when Congress came up with the idea of building another transcontinental interstate by extending I-66 from northern Virginia to California. US-400 was designated to establish the future I-66 corridor through Kansas and eastern Colorado, and a short section of what was to be I-66 was built around Neodosha, Kansas.

But now that the transcontinental I-66 proposal is dead, I would agree that US-400 no longer serves any real purpose, and should be decommissioned.

[bugo]

Overall in Arkansas, there is a CLEAR difference between the quality of State Highways versus U.S. Highways

Not always. Some Arkansas state highways are better than some US highways. For example, AR 27 from Mount Ida to Dardanelle is a curvy mountain road, but it is a high quality highway that can be handled at highway speeds. It's no worse than US 71 from Greenwood to Ben Lomond. AR 10 and AR 22 are quality roads, as are long stretches of AR 1, some of which are 4 lanes.

Looks like the main reason for this is to replace a major 3-digit state road with a shield. AR 18 has shoulders but is crooked and goes through a bunch of towns.

AR 18 is an Arkansas Freeway from Jonesboro to Blytheville.

On the contrary, this should be fascinating (to) you.  I see this as something potentially unnecessarily weird and maybe bucking established AASHTO protocols.  We need more asymmetry in this hobby as opposed to homogenization.

Right, I get all that.  That said, if things like US 400 didn't exist how much less interesting would this hobby be?  I tend to be of the belief that not having anomalies lessens how interesting the hobby can be when it comes to signed routes.  This is part of my argument why grid perfectionism is bad for the hobby.

I strongly agree. A lot of the geekier road enthuiasts want everything to be the same everywhere. New ugly concrete bridges, shiny new homogenized signs, no numbering anomalies, all highways fitting neatly into a neat grid, no harmless sign errors. They want everything interesting about the hobby to go away. If their utopia had been implemented by 1970, I wouldn't even be interested in roads. So why do they want to fuck that up? Goddam nerds.

[paulthemapguy]

Hey, I know I already posted in here, but I have to wonder-- could this be a political ploy to try and pull for a new bridge over the Mississippi River to northeast Arkansas?  Are they trying to set the stage for a future plea for a new bridge?  "Hey look, we have this important US highway in northeast Arkansas and it just dead-ends at the river, diving south on US61 to Memphis.  Maybe we should continue this corridor eastward into Tennessee?"  Politicians approve these moves to designate highways, so I'm wondering what the political motive behind this is.  This is just me spitballing; you all are welcome to spitball as well.

[bugo]

This article from the Batesville Daily Guard makes a questionable claim:

Approximately 140 highway miles in Arkansas will be dual-signed as U.S. Highway 78. Highways and Interstates included in the dual-signage route will retain their original designation as well as the new U.S. Highway 78 designation, as is common practice with many existing State Highways.

This is highly unlikely, as the AR 226 and AR 18 signs will more than likely come down not long after the US 78 shields go up.

[abqtraveler]

Has AASHTO approved the extension of US-78?  I don't know what AASHTO approves anymore, since after they redid their website, it looks like AASHTO no longer publishes their route numbering decisions online.

[hbelkins]

As for the US 78 extension, I approve of a single number for AR 226 and AR 18, but the dogleg along I-55 is ridiculous. Too bad AASHTO doesn't allow single state US highways anymore, because this would be perfect for it. As far as extending existing US highways, there really aren't any good options. AASHTO's own policies are at fault for silly convoluted routings, much like the old US 63 when it still went through West Memphis. Perhaps a better option is to get Kentucky and Tennessee on board, and commission a brand new US highway that follows AR 226 and AR 18, but turns north on I-55 at Blytheville, then follow I-155 across that little brook that divides the country, then north on US 51/Future I-69 and east on KY 80 all the way to west of Glasgow, where it would follow the Cumberland Parkway east to Somerset, then back to KY 80 east to London, then the Hal Rogers Parkway east to Watergap, where it would end at US 23. This is still inelegant, but it's better than Dogleg 78.

I thought about something that would involve Kentucky and Tennessee (and Missouri) that would be more logical than the extension of US 78 due north, then due west.

Eliminate US 68 northwest of KY 80 at the western end of the Eggners Ferry Bridge. Continue the US 68/KY 80 concurrency west to Mayfield, then route US 68 along either US 45 or the Purchase Parkway (future I-69) southwest to Fulton, then along US 45W/US 51 (future I-69) to Union City and along US 51 (again, future I-69) to Dyersburg, then across the river on US 412/I-155 to I-55 south to Blytheville, where it would take over the proposed US 78 corridor.

There's a lot of overlap on existing routes, but it would get Arkansas its desire for a US highway corridor between Jonesboro and Blytheville if they're not sold on the concept of it being US 78 and would accept 68 instead.

As for Jeremy's proposal, I think it makes sense for the corridor between I-65 and US 23 to have its own singular designation. But the Cumberland Parkway Expressway is already in line to be I-365, and there are still references to I-66 within Kentucky's planning documents.

[Urban Prairie Schooner]

This is the most insane route proposal I have ever seen.

The route via AR 226 and AR 18 could be a viable US route, perhaps as a rerouting of 412. But extending 78 in this manner is crazy.